COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF
MECHANICAL AND
AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
Aerospace Engineering
B.S., M.S., Ph.D.
Mechanical Engineering
B.S., M.S., Ph.D.
OVERVIEW STATEMENT
The mechanical and aerospace engineering department
offers a curriculum with an emphasis on hands-on
projects to complement our classroom instruction by
world-renowned faculty members. Hands-on student
experiences include laboratory courses featuring stateof-the art equipment and instruments, instruction in
the use of modern engineering computer tools and
advanced software, as well as a variety of team projects
that emphasize synthesis of course work, presentation
skills and foster a commitment to life-long learning
and personal growth. Team projects are introduced
even during the freshman year and culminate with the
multidisciplinary senior year capstone design project.
Projects are sponsored directly by industry, private
companies, government institutions or as a part of
innovative research performed by our faculty. Some
sponsored projects include turbine engineering analysis and wind tunnel testing for next
generation clean-energy power systems, a light-guiding system to aid pilots in aerial refueling,
robotics, development of autonomous flight and ground vehicles, and even a NASA-sponsored
project currently flying on the International Space Station. Brand new programs in biomedical
engineering and automotive engineering are now providing the basis for even more exciting
projects for our students and faculty.
FACULTY AND RESEARCH
Mark R. Archambault, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, marchamb@fit.edu
Rocket propulsion and combustion, rocket plume flowfields, plume/lunar regolith interaction,
computational fluid dynamics, multiphase flow, spray and particle dynamics
David C. Fleming, Ph.D., Associate Professor, dfleming@fit.edu
Structural mechanics, advanced composite materials, crashworthy aerospace vehicle design,
finite element analysis, fracture mechanics
Martin Glicksman, Ph.D., Allen S. Henry Chair Professor and University Professor, Member of
the National Academy of Engineering, mglicksman@fit.edu
Solidification of metals; kinetics and energetics of interfaces; microstructure evolution; and
dendritic crystal growth
Hector Gutierrez, Ph.D., P.E., Associate Professor, hgutier@fit.edu
Mechatronics, nonlinear control, microprocessor control of electromechanical systems,
magnetic suspension systems, intelligent control, automation, instrumentation, control of
flexible structures, aerospace systems and control
Pei-feng Hsu, Ph.D., Professor/Department Head, phsu@fit.edu
Radiative and multimode heat transfer, premixed combustion in porous ceramics, numerical
methods in heat transfer, pulsed laser applications in medical imaging and material property
diagnostics, micro/nano-scale thermal radiative transfer for energy devices, HVAC systems
design
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING SIGNATURE RESEARCH AREAS:
Sustainability of the Environment • Intelligent Systems • Assured Information and Cyber Security
New Space Systems and Commercialization of Space • Communication Systems and Signal Processing • Biomedical Systems
Daniel R. Kirk, Ph.D., Associate Professor/Associate Department Head, dkirk@fit.edu
Fluid mechanics, heat transfer, combustion, air-breathing propulsion, chemical and nuclear thermal rocket
propulsion, shock tube flow experimentation, high-speed aerodynamics, internal flows
Pierre Larochelle, Ph.D., P.E., Professor/Assistant Dean for Academics & Accreditation, pierrel@fit.edu
Synthesis and analysis of mechanisms and machines, design and control of robotic manipulators,
theoretical kinematics, design of spherical and spatial mechanisms, computer-aided design
Mary Helen McCay, Ph.D., P.E., Research Professor, mmccay@fit.edu
Metallurgy, crystal growth, laser interaction with materials
T. Dwayne McCay, Ph.D., Executive Vice President/Professor, tdmccay@fit.edu
Low-density gas dynamics, high-speed flows, propulsion systems, laser interaction with materials
Kunal Mitra, Ph.D., Professor, kmitra@fit.edu
Thermal fluid sciences with emphasis on laser applications, thermal radiation, microscale heat transfer,
material processing, bio-heat transfer modeling
Razvan Rusovici, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, rrusovic@fit.edu
Structural dynamics, intelligent material applications, orthopedic biomechanics, acoustics, sensors and
instrumentation, experimental modal analysis, turbomachinery
Paavo Sepri, Ph.D., Associate Professor, sepri@fit.edu
Fluid mechanics, turbulence, convective heat transfer, boundary layers, aerodynamics, wind tunnel testing,
droplet combustion, computational fluid dynamics
Yahya I. Sharaf-Eldeen, Ph.D., P.E., Associate Professor, eldeen@fit.edu
Modeling, simulation and design of dynamic systems, advanced dynamics, vibration and design of
machinery, thermal-fluid sciences, energy/power systems
Chelakara S. Subramanian, Ph.D., P.Eng. (UK), Professor/Program Chair, subraman@fit.edu
Experimental fluid mechanics, turbulence measurements, LDV, photoluminescence barometry and
thermometry, wind tunnel experimentation, wind engineering, structure of complex turbulent flows,
turbulence modeling, boundary layer receptivity, energy efficient systems, film cooling
Ke-Gang Wang, Ph.D., Associate Professor, kwang@fit.edu
Theoretical, computational and experimental materials science and engineering, structure and property
of materials, statistical mechanics for different transport processes, and nanotechnology
Shengyuan Yang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, syang@fit.edu
Micro and nano electro mechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), cell and tissue mechanics and
mechanobiology, bio-MEMS/NEMS, mechanics of materials
Ju Zhang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, jzhang@fit.edu
Computational fluid dynamics, numerical modeling of shock to detonation transition, numerical schemes
and applications, direct numerical simulations of turbulence and combustion, computational astrophysics
CONTACT
College of Engineering
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32901
Phone: (321) 674-8092
mae@fit.edu
http://coe.fit.edu/mae
Florida Institute of Technology does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, marital status, age, disability, sexual orientation, Vietnam-era veterans status or any other discrimination
prohibited by law in the admission of students, administration of its educational policies, scholarship and loan programs, employment policies, and athletic or other university sponsored programs or activities. EN-327-412